Worcester Business Journal

Attendance at WooSox home games has increased 24% and is the second highest in the minor league BY BRAD KANE WBJ Editor T hrough their first 22 home games of the 2022 season, the Worcester Red Sox have averaged 7,638 fans per game, a 24% increase from their inaugural season and more fans than the team has seats at its new $160-million baseball stadium. "e fact that they've gotten more than 7,500 fans per game while the weath- er has largely been bad and COVID numbers are still up has to be encourag- ing to the team," said Victor Matheson, professor in sports economics at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. "It's no surprise to see strong numbers here … at's reflecting baseball in general." In 2021, the team's first season aer relocating from Pawtucket, R.I., the WooSox attendance was hampered by COVID-induced capacity restrictions for its first dozen home games, the fact the stadium wasn't completed until near the season's end, and a public hesitation to gather in con- fined spaces, which impacted live events throughout the globe. For the entirety of that debut season, the WooSox averaged 6,145 fans, ranking sixth for attendance among the 120 minor league baseball teams, during a year in which attendance was down 39% on the minor league level and 32% on the major league level compared to 2019. e 2020 minor league season was can- celed, and the major league games were played without fans in the stands. Now, the WooSox rank second among all minor league teams through the first third of the 2022 season, at a time when baseball is seeing attendance returning toward 2019 levels. "I expect the attendance to keep rising here," said Dan Rea III, WooSox execu- tive vice president and general manager. "I expect more games in the 8,000s and 9,000s in attendance." Connecting more with fans At the end of the 2021 season, Rea vowed in an October interview with WBJ that the WooSox would increase their per-game attendance in 2022, despite historical evidence saying teams moving Sophomore jump 8 Worcester Business Journal | May 30, 2022 | wbjournal.com Dan Rea III, WooSox general manager & executive vice president Attendance at WooSox home games steadily increased throughout the 2021 season. PHOTOS | MATT WRIGHT

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